"Vano and Niko" resembles a catalogue of all the relationships that are possible between people. It is a parable that demonstrates that not only humans but all living beings are engaged in the search for the other. Peter Handke, who met Erlom Akhvlediani in 1975, described the parables as "exhilarating and at the same time paradoxical"; in his view they show us the redemptive "third way," that of waylessness. Travelling this third way calls for courage and the Vano and Niko parables therefore have something ominous about them. "Vano and Niko" was one of Akhvlediani''s earlier works, written in the 1950s. Today "Vano and Niko" has cult status and the book is famous throughout Georgia, even forming part of the philosophy curriculum.
This edition of "Vano and Niko" includes the two other parts to Akhvlediani''s trilogy of parables: "The Story of the Lazy Mouse" and "The Man Who Lost His Self and Other Stories."
